Last Chance Canal

By Cosmos Mariner, July 15, 2013

1. Last Chance Canal Marker

Inscription. Blocked by lava eruptions at least 140,000 years ago, the Bear River was diverted from draining into the Snake River system.
It was forced to drain southward into what were then lakes Thatcher and Bonneville and is now the Great Salt Lake.

The river direction doubles back on itself from its source in the high Uinta Mountains of eastern Utah, forming a giant horseshoe shape.
The shift sent the Bear River south through the Grace area, carving a deep and rocky gorge in young basalt flows.
The gorge complicated any effort to move irritation water onto the surrounding fertile fields.

The Last Chance Canal Company, a name that described the settlers’ desperation, began in 1895.
They had an implementation deadline to meet or lose their water rights.
The early pioneers persevered, and their ingenuity finally got water to both sides of the Gem Valley in 1902.

Morrison-Knudsen Company (MK) was awarded the contract in 1916 to create a tunnel through solid lava rock, solving years of trouble with wooden flumes along the river.
Two brothers, contracted by MK, dug the canal.
They began at opposite ends of the rock barrier and met within a foot of alignment. Much of the drilling of the 1,800-foot tunnel (12 feet wide and 9 feet high) was done with hand tools.
The rock was hauled out with a horse pulling a small

By Cosmos Mariner, July 15, 2013

2. Marker Detail: Last Chance Main Canal

rail car.

At the tunnel outlet, a new cross-river flume was constructed and supported by a great concrete arch. An upstream dam and headworks diverts water to the tunnel for irrigation and hydro-electricity generation. The engineering masterpiece was built without federal assistance and without outside capital by local farmers who worked cooperatively in best spirit of Mormon settlers.
An all-steel flume replaced the concrete arch in 1946. The arch remains, a reminder of the determined local efforts that brought irrigation water to the Grace area.
Much of Gem Valley farming and ranching would not exist without this project.

Location. 42° 36.029′ N, 111° 42.648′ W. Marker is near Grace, Idaho, in Caribou County. Marker is on Last Chance Lane 1.3 miles west of State Highway 34, on the right when traveling west. Touch for map. Marker overlooks the subject canal from a pull-out on the west side of Last Chance Lane. The intersection of Idaho Highway 34 and Last Chance Lane is about a mile north of Center Street in Grace, Idaho. Marker is at or near this postal address: 2164 Last Chance Lane, Grace ID 83241, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within 4 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Horatio's Journey (approx. 3.3 miles away); Hudspeth Cutoff

Also see . . . 1. Last Chance Canal.
Without the extensive networks of irrigation canals created by settlers of this region, farming as it now exists would have been impossible in this arid area. Residents created cooperatives to organize the use of the water, with families owning shares that gave them the right to irrigate their land on a scheduled basis. The water shares were usually sold with the land, though later, it became common for developers and others to try to buy up water shares from people who weren’t using them. An engineering masterpiece for its time, the Last Chance Canal was completed in the early 1900s (Submitted on November 11, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

front provide a very scenic backdrop. The Last Chance Canal Company was started with 64 original stockholders--Gem Valley farmers who desperately needed the life-giving waters from the Bear River to grow their crops. (Submitted on November 11, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida.)

Credits. This page was last revised on December 4, 2017. This page originally submitted on November 11, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. This page has been viewed 45 times since then and 3 times this year. Photos:1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6. submitted on November 11, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. 7, 8, 9. submitted on November 18, 2017, by Cosmos Mariner of Cape Canaveral, Florida. • Bill Pfingsten was the editor who published this page.